Another round of late-day storms is expected in the Austin area on May 21, with a stalled front teaming up with an upper low to trigger storms west of the city this afternoon. The storm complex is expected to drift slowly southeast and reach most of the area by evening, bringing another unsettled stretch after a day that is mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.
The Hill Country is expected to be hit first, with storms moving in from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., before the activity shifts toward the I-35 corridor between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Another round could clip the area in the middle of the night. Only the Hill Country is under a marginal risk for small hail and gusty winds, but strong damaging winds are expected to be the main concern with this round.
The forecast points to a conveyor belt of rain already in motion, and that matters because the next several days are expected to stay active. Conditions should dry out and warm up on Friday, but rain and storm chances are expected to rise again this weekend as the main upper low pivots into Texas late Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.
That setup is why the weekend carries the bigger flood threat. Numerous storms are expected on Saturday, scattered storms on Sunday and isolated storms on Monday, with another 2 to 5 inches of rain possible over the next 7 days. Localized flooding is expected to become a bigger concern as the rain keeps coming back day after day, especially if storms train over the same areas.
FOX 7 Austin’s forecast, which references meteorologists Zack Shields and Adaleigh Rowe, repeats that thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and evening. The difference today is timing: the first storms are expected west of Austin, then the line marches toward the city after dark, keeping weather Austin in the spotlight through the evening commute and into the overnight hours.
The question for Central Texas is no longer whether storms return. They do. The more important issue is how much rain falls before the pattern finally loosens early next week, and whether already wet ground can handle another multi-day round without flooding.
